Executive Summary

One of the most important aspects affecting the overall performance of hybrid ad hoc networks is the efficient selection of Internet gateways. The authors have analytically modeled existing proposals (i.e. adaptive, reactive and hybrid gateway discovery) showing that each of them is only suitable for a particular range of network parameters. They propose a new adaptive gateway discovery scheme based on the dynamic adjustment of the scope of the gateway advertisement packets. They show through simulation that their proposed adaptive gateway discovery scheme based on the maximum source coverage outperforms existing mechanisms over a variety of scenarios and mobility rates.